Natural plants/sticks vs fake

Mellik's mamma · 11-16-13, 10:44 AM

Hello, I am a new ball/royal python owner

I want to make their life as normal/natural as possible

Are there benefits to having real plants and twigs over fake? Is one more safe than the other? If I should go with all natural, what should I get or stay away from? Are fake plants/twigs harmful at all? I have the "interior design" from the previous owner, and they had Mellik for a while and they are healthy, BUT i want Mellik to have more to hide in, etc.

thanks for your help

alessia55 · 11-16-13, 11:48 AM

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mistersprinkles · 11-16-13, 12:00 PM

When I first started keeping balls I would just use a water dish, a hide, and that was the whole enclosure. Eventually I tried keeping an artificial vine with very soft cloth leaves in the tank. It made for a lot of ground cover. The ball would actually spend time sitting in/under the leaves instead of being in the hide all the time. My guess is that the ground cover made the snake feel "safe" enough to be out in the open.

drumcrush · 11-16-13, 12:07 PM

Here's my dads enclosure for his ball. He has two hides and a fake plant and that drift wood. He really likes to sit on top of the drift wood. And if you want to make it look more natural, Adding a background would really help. not only does it look good, but it helps snakes feel more secure.

wrecker45 · 11-16-13, 12:33 PM

In ontario we have dollarama stores. They have some nice looking fake plants.

Mellik's mamma · 11-16-13, 03:21 PM

thanks for your input everyone

i went and got some more grapevines and soft, but fake plants. Mellik is already more adventurous and hanging out in the "tree".

what is your opinion on moss for humidity? any specific moss better than others? i am not going to buy moss till i get a response in case it is harmful to mellik. wish the previous owners were 100% on his/her sex :P

humidity is usually around 50 to 60 when not in shed. i put it to around 60 to 70 when in shed (which they just did this morning -- first time with me) yes, eyes shed, too.

then had a big poo. sorry, just really excited mellik is doing well.

oh yeah, anyone else have crazy dreams when their python is in shed? haha, they wake me up b/c i am so worried! dreams such as their body being cut in half b/c of shedding or other snakes and reptiles magically appearing in the tank to harm them. wow. or am i just insane? yeah...insane. haha

**Aaron_S** · 11-16-13, 03:31 PM

Natural? Why aren't you building a termite mound for him then?

It's in captivity. Who cares about nature.

Hannibalcanibal · 11-16-13, 03:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aaron_S

Natural? Why aren't you building a termite mound for him then?

It's in captivity. Who cares about nature.

^pretty much this. If it has proper temps, humidity, and is the right size, who cares?

formica · 11-16-13, 03:41 PM

for live plants, i'd recomend low-light ferns and mosses, you will need at least some lighting, 6000K LED strips will do, additional red LED strips will give your plants the opportunity to reproduce aswell, 6K lighting by itself can add excessive height, a bit of red helps plants get bushier. approx 1W of LED strips per square foot should do the trick, or you can use a 6000K or 6500K CFL bulb, if you have space to add a fitting, this will give you some good growth, 30W per square foot is my general rule - but with plants, you can never have to much light, but not having enough = dead plants.

my preference for moss is ''Fern Moss'', it grows fast (for a moss...mosses grow very slow!), even under low light, with a good substrate at well maintained humidity, it should do very well.

but, its important to allow your plants time to establish themselves properly before adding a snake, otherwise they will be dig them up, bend and brake them, adding to the stress they are already under by being transplanted into a new enviroment, there is a good chance they will give up and die. 6 weeks is a reasonable time to cycle a planted encosure, I'd also recommend a bio-active substrate if you want live plants, this will help feed the plants without needing to add potentially hazardous fertilizers (although allot of tropical low light ferns need very little fertilizer anyway), aswell as helping to clean the enclosure and keep molds at bay.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aaron_S

It's in captivity. Who cares about nature.

lots of people do. infact some of us believe that we have a responsibility to provide as much enrichment as possible for captive animals, its not just about looking nice.

Mellik's mamma · 11-16-13, 03:51 PM

formica, thanks for your nice and informative response. it made me realize i probably don't have the time for this :/

hannibalcanibal, same to you...i think.

you are right though, i guess as long as everything is good, plants might be overkill and cause problems if not taken care of meticulously (being 3rd shift = not a ton of free time)

and to you aaron s. thanks for your advice though it was a bit harsh. or at least i took it that way. idk, maybe you were just being silly. i hope this is the case. i didn't build a termite mound b/c mellik told me they didn't like termites...they party and drink too much. :P

Mellik's mamma · 11-16-13, 03:55 PM

aaron s, pretty sure you were just making a point. sorry, i can be a little..uh..italian sometimes!!

drumcrush · 11-16-13, 04:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aaron_S

It's in captivity. Who cares about nature.

^^ I do... I know I can't provide exact, but I like to do the best I can.

Mellik's mamma · 11-16-13, 04:12 PM

thanks drumcrush and formica for making me feel like i am not crazy for asking this question

drumcrush · 11-16-13, 04:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mellik's mamma

thanks drumcrush and formica for making me feel like i am not crazy for asking this question

Yeah! Sure thing

**Aaron_S** · 11-16-13, 04:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by drumcrush

^^ I do... I know I can't provide exact, but I like to do the best I can.

Here's a question for you, if it can't be exact like their nature then why even try? To make yourself feel better about keeping it?

My point is simple. Balls live in TERMITE mounds in the wild. If you have plants, grapevines and other things in their then you're not even close to what their natural habitat is.

My first post was just being cheeky because I am awesome like that.